The National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) should be run by full-time and 'interest-free' commissioners, former United Nations special rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy said today.

"What Suhakam needs now is not more commissioners but a few full-time commissioner to be selected from those with proven record of commitment and dedication to the cause of human rights." he said.

"Part-time commissioners, however prominent they may be, with other remunerative full-time interests should be done away with," Param, the former UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, stressed.

"How can they be fully committed when they have other interests such as those in the corporate?" he told reporters after the annual national consultation on Suhakam in Kuala Lumpur today.

Suhakam commissioners are appointed by the king on the advice of the prime minister. All the commissioners appointed since Suhakam was established in 1999 served part-time.

Currently, Suhakam has 17 commissioners including the chairperson Abu Talib Othman.

Abuse of public funds?

Earlier in his opening address, Param highlighted the staggering figure of RM3.22 million spent as 'professional fees and hospitality' in the 2003 Suhakam annual report. The figure was about 50 percent of the commission's annual grant and it was increased from 2002's RM2.55 million in the same category.

According to Param, the figures include remuneration and allowances paid to the commissioners but the exact figure for the two categories was not disclosed in the report.

"In countries like India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia the number of commissioners are smaller but all are full-time and are not permitted to be in any other employment.

"Those (full-time) commissioners are paid less than what the part-timers in Suhakam are paid," he pointed out.

The total grant for Suhakam for 2003 was RM6.82 million.

Param who is also Transparency International Malaysia deputy president urged the commission to uphold transparency when presenting its coming annual audited accounts.

He also noted another questionable expenditure - that of the provision of motor vehicles to the commissioners. Param said there was no such provision as at January 2002.

Citing the commission's audited report for last year, he said a total of about RM2.1 million was taken out of the grant to purchase motor vehicles for commissioners.

"The question to ask is whether it is proper for these part-time commissioners to be provided with vehicles?" he asked.

He argued that since these commissioners are prominent personalities and have other sources of income, they would surely have their own vehicles.

"With respect to all the commissioners, I find this most disturbing. It may be perceived as an abuse of public funds," the former rapporteur said.

He also noted that the commissioners during the first two years did not find the need for this luxury.

Limited copies of Suhakam reports

Organiser Era Consumer president Marimuthu Nadason in his welcoming address described Suhakam's budget as one which most non-governmental organisations "can only dream of receiving".

With the annual budget at its disposal Suhakam should actually be able to make a difference, he added.

"Although organising conferences and seminars to raise awareness is very important, one would think that it is more important for Suhakam to champion the rights of the people who approach the commission with much hope," he stressed.

Despite the high allocation provided, Marimuthu expressed his dissatisfaction that Suhakam only printed and distributed limited copies of the commission's annual report.

He said Era Consumer even has to print, with the permission of Suhakam, 500 copies of the commission's annual report every year to be distributed.

Speaking to reporters later, Suhakam commissioner Prof Chiam Heng Keng said the increasing expenditures was due to outsourcing of the commission's research.

"In previous years, we did not outsource our research work, but we now need more input from others so we have to get the people to do the research," she said.

According to her, the provision of motor vehicles is stated under the commissioner's appointment.

Responding to Param's call for full-time commissioners, Chiam said the prerequisite is to appoint committed human rights commissioners and it does not matter whether they are full-time or part-time.

Apart from Chiam, the other commissioner present at the function today was Ramon Navaratnam. Other guest speakers include Hakam immediate past president Ramdas Tikamdas, Women's Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah, Police Watch's spokesperson RN Rajah and News Straits Times associate editor Rehman Rashid.

About 170 people turned up at the event.